Exploration environments: supporting users to learn groupware functions

Explorative learning plays a major role when users face new functionality. Nevertheless, the multi-user character of groupware makes explorative learning more difficult. Users are often unable to understand the way certain functions work because they cannot perceive the effects of the functions’ execution. This problem gets more severe with tailorable groupware. Therefore, we propose exploration environments as an additional feature to support users in self-directed learning. Looking at three tailorable groupware tools, we show how exploration environments can be realized. To generalize our findings, we develop a model which describes the user interface of tailorable groupware. Based on this model, we compare the design of the three tools and present general guidelines for the implementation of exploration environments. Finally, we report about the results of a workshop in which a groupware tool containing exploration environments has been evaluated.